Toilet water saver

ABSTRACT

The toilet water saver includes a toilet tank and flushing valve assembly that efficiently uses the water in the tank for the particular waste being flushed. The flushing valve assembly has two flapper valves, one flapper valve disposed vertically higher than the other, and an actuator that operates one valve singly or both flapper valves simultaneously at the user&#39;s option. The disposition of the valves with respect to the maximum tank capacity level defines respective first and second volumes of water to be used. The higher disposed flapper valve is operated to drain a smaller volume of water for the common liquid wastes while the lower disposed flapper valve is operated to drain a much greater volume for solid waste. The toilet water saver is also configurable for flushing wastes from either left or right side of the toilet tank.

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/232,154, filed on Sep. 11, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to toilet tanks, and particularly to a toilet water saver that economizes on the use of water when flushing a toilet tank.

2. Description of the Related Art

Water consumption, potable or otherwise, can be costly to consumers, depending upon demand and the available water supply in the locality. In many metropolitan areas, wastewater is recycled, and the costs are passed to the consumer. In some areas of the world, water is a premium commodity because of geography, availability, economy, and/or weather conditions. Modern toilets consume much of the available water, but they are very inefficient because the same amount of available water in the toilet tank is employed to flush both liquid and solid wastes.

Thus, a toilet water saver solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The toilet water saver includes a compact tank and a flushing valve system having tank flush valves disposed at different heights with respect to the base of the tank so that the saver efficiently uses the optimal amount of water for the task. When flushing waste, this arrangement allows a small volume of water to be used for liquid waste, the most common form of wastes, and a larger volume for solid waste. Moreover, the toilet water saver is configurable to accommodate user preferences as well as standards in other world countries.

These and other features of the present invention will become readily apparent upon further review of the following specification and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an environmental front view in section of a toilet tank equipped with an exemplary toilet water saver according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an environmental front view in section of a toilet tank equipped with an exemplary toilet water saver according to the present invention adapted for right-hand operation.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently throughout the attached drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a toilet water saver that may include a tank and flushing assembly that efficiently uses the available water in the tank by allowing the user to selectively flush predetermined amounts of water, depending on the particular waste material or load. As shown in FIG. 1, the toilet water saver 10 may include a tank body 2 adapted to hold a set volume of water. The water required to fill the tank is supplied through an inflow tube 4 attached to an inlet pipe 6. A float 11, which is pivotally connected to a ballcock assembly via a float arm 12, controls the level 8 of water in the tank 2. As the tank 2 fills, the float 11 rises and gradually closes the ballcock assembly as the float 11 reaches a predetermined level 8 of water.

The flushing valve assembly includes an elongated overflow tube 22 connected to a flush valve body 40. The flush valve body 40 includes a substantially elongated pipe 28 having a first flapper valve seat 41 at the upper end to accommodate a first pivotable flapper valve 24. The opposite end of the pipe 28 is connected to a tank outlet 30 leading to the toilet bowl. The flush valve body 40 has a Tee or branch pipe 32 extending at right angles from the pipe 28 to form a second flapper valve seat 43 for a second pivotable flapper valve 26 near the lower end of the valve body 40. Each of the flapper valve seats 41, 43 are disposed at an angle with respect to the horizontal to ease the flow of water during a flushing operation. This angle is preferably between 30° and 60° with respect to the horizontal.

As shown in FIG. 1, each of the flapper valves 24, 26 are disposed at different heights with respect to the vertical orientation of the flush valve body 40, i.e., the first flapper valve 24 is disposed at a higher elevation with respect to the bottom of the tank 2 than the second flapper valve 26. Note also that the branching tube 32 and the second flapper valve 26 are disposed near the bottom of the tank 2. The purpose of these different elevations is to control the amount of water employed to flush liquid or solid wastes. The tank 2 holds water up to a predetermined level 8. The first flapper valve 24 is located at a differential depth X below the predetermined level 8. The volume of water contained in the differential depth X corresponds to the amount of water sufficient to provide the water pressure needed to flush liquid wastes from the toilet bowl. Preferably, the volume is less than one-third of the capacity of tank. The second flapper valve 26 is located at a differential depth Y with respect to the predetermined level 8. The volume of water contained in the differential depth Y corresponds to the amount of water sufficient to flush solid wastes from the toilet bowl. Note that the volume encompassed by differential depth Y is much greater than the volume of differential depth X.

An actuator 34 is provided to operate either the first flapper valve 24 only or both flapper valves 24, 26 simultaneously at the option of the user. The actuator 34 includes coaxially mounted handles (at 34) with one handle being independently operable from the other handle. One end of an adjustable chain 20 is connected to the distal end of a first lever arm 16, and the other end of the chain 20 is connected to the first flapper valve 24. The first lever arm 16 is operably attached to a first one of the independently operable handles. A second lever arm 14 is attached to the second handle and is operably connected to a corresponding chain 18, which is connected to the second flapper valve 26. The second handle also actuates the first handle so that both valves 24, 26 may be opened when flushing solid wastes. An exemplary dual handle actuator 34 of this type that may be used in the toilet tank saver 10 is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,129, issued Nov. 16, 1993 to Roy, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

Next, the operation of the toilet water saver 10 will be described. When a user desires to eliminate liquid waste, the user actuates the independently operable first handle to open the first flapper valve 24 via the first lever arm 16. The relatively small volume of water in differential depth X drains through the first flapper valve seat 41 into elongate pipe or valve body 28 to the outlet 30. When the user desires to flush solid waste, the user operates the second handle, which, in turn, simultaneously operates the independent first handle to open both flapper valves 24, 26 via the first and second lever arms 1 2 and 14. The much greater volume of water in differential depth Y insures flushing of the solid wastes.

Due to the features above, the toilet water saver 10 promotes water conservation by only using the necessary amount of water for the particular task. The majority of toilet flushes occur for liquid wastes, but conventional toilets consume the same amount of available water in the tank for both liquid and solid wastes. A substantial savings in water consumption, as well as financial savings, may be obtained by the above system, since it reduces the potential for water waste.

The toilet water saver may also be configured for right-hand operation, especially for individuals who prefer such a mode, or for countries where that is a standard configuration for toilets. As shown in FIG. 2, the toilet water saver 100 includes the actuator 134 being disposed on the right-hand side of the tank 102. Compare the location of actuator 34 in FIG. 1 (left-hand side) with the location of the actuator 134 in FIG. 2 (right-hand side). To accommodate the location of actuator 134, the valve body 140 has been reconfigured so that the lower branch pipe 132, second valve seat 143 and the associated second flapper valve 126 extends towards the right-hand side of the tank 2 as seen in FIG. 2. Note that the position of the first valve seat 141 and the first flapper valve 124 remains unchanged. As a result, the first and second lever arms 116, 114 and respective chains 120, 118 are disposed on the right-hand side of the tank 2 and operatively connected to the dual handle actuator 134. As an alternative, the inflow tube 104 and a float 111 pivotally connected to a ballcock assembly via a float arm 112 may also be disposed opposite from that shown in FIG. 1. However, either location of these features, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is viable, since they function as a tank filling mechanism independent of the flushing operation, and the location thereof may depend more on the location of the water source in the working environment.

In operation, the toilet water saver 100 operates in substantially the same manner as the toilet water saver 10 as described above, except that the handles in the dual handle actuator 134 are employed from the right-hand side of the tank 102. An exemplary dual handle actuator 134 of this type that may be used in the toilet tank saver 100 is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,129, issued Nov. 16, 1993 to Roy, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety

It should be noted that the present invention may encompass a variety of alternatives to the various features thereof. For example, the flushing valve assembly may be formed from PVC pipes, plastics or other sturdy waterproof materials. Moreover, the piping thereof may be an integral unit or may be separate pipes threaded or adhesively connected to each other.

It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments within the scope of the following claims. 

1. A toilet water saver, comprising: a toilet tank adapted for holding water for flushing a toilet bowl, the tank having an outlet adapted for connection to a toilet bowl; a water refill assembly extending into the tank, the refill assembly being adapted for maintaining the flush water at a predetermined level in the tank; a flush valve assembly having: a valve body including an elongated pipe having an upper end at a first differential depth below the predetermined water level and a lower end connected to the tank outlet; a first flapper valve disposed at the upper end of the valve body, the first flapper valve permitting a first volume of flush water to pass through the valve body and the tank outlet when the first flapper valve is in an open position, the first volume of flush water being defined by the first differential depth and being adequate to flush liquid waste from the toilet bowl; and a second flapper valve disposed adjacent the lower end of the valve body pipe, the second flapper valve being disposed at a second differential depth below the predetermined water level, the second flapper valve permitting a second volume of flush water to pass through the valve body and the tank outlet when the first and second flapper valves are simultaneously in the open position, the second flush volume being defined by the second differential depth and being adequate to flush both liquid and solid waste from the toilet bowl; and an actuator connected to the first and second flapper valves for selectively actuating either the first flapper valve alone or both the first and the second flapper valves simultaneously at a user's option.
 2. The toilet water saver according to claim 1, wherein said water refill assembly comprises: an elongated float arm adapted for connection to a ballcock assembly; and a float disposed on the float arm, wherein draining and refilling water in the tank lowers and raises the float for operation of the ballcock assembly.
 3. The toilet water saver according to claim 1, wherein the flushing valve assembly further comprises an elongated overflow tube adjacent said valve body.
 4. The toilet water saver according to claim 1, wherein said valve body further comprises a branch pipe extending orthogonal to said elongated pipe adjacent the lower end, said second flapper valve being disposed on the branch pipe.
 5. The toilet water saver according to claim 1, wherein said flush valve assembly further comprises a first valve seat disposed at the upper end of said elongated pipe and a second valve seat disposed in said branch pipe, said first and second flapper valves being seated in the first and second valve seats, respectively, when in a closed position, the first and second valve seats being formed at an acute angle relative to horizontal in order to promoted fluid flow when flushing said tank.
 6. The toilet water saver according to claim 1, wherein said first volume comprises less than about one-third of the entire volume of water defined by the predetermined water level.
 7. The toilet water saver according to claim 1, wherein said second volume comprises substantially the entire volume of water defined by the predetermined water level.
 8. A toilet water saver, comprising: a toilet tank adapted for holding water for flushing a toilet bowl, the tank having an outlet adapted for connection to a toilet bowl; a water refill assembly extending into the tank, the refill assembly being adapted for maintaining the flush water at a predetermined level in the tank; a flush valve assembly having: a valve body including an elongated pipe having an upper end at a first differential depth below the predetermined water level and a lower end connected to the tank outlet; a first flapper valve disposed at the upper end of the valve body, the first flapper valve permitting a first volume of flush water to pass through the valve body and the tank outlet when the first flapper valve is in an open position, the first volume of flush water being defined by the first differential depth and being adequate to flush liquid waste from the toilet bowl; and a second flapper valve disposed adjacent the lower end of the valve body pipe on either left or right of the valve body pipe, the second flapper valve being disposed at a second differential depth below the predetermined water level, the second flapper valve permitting a second volume of flush water to pass through the valve body and the tank outlet when the first and second flapper valves are simultaneously in the open position, the second flush volume being defined by the second differential depth and being adequate to flush both liquid and solid waste from the toilet bowl; and an actuator operatively disposed on either side of the tank for selectively actuating either the first flapper valve alone or both the first and the second flapper valves simultaneously at a user's option.
 9. The toilet water saver according to claim 8, wherein said water refill assembly comprises: an elongated float arm adapted for connection to a ballcock assembly; and a float disposed on the float arm, wherein draining and refilling water in the tank lowers and raises the float for operation of the ballcock assembly.
 10. The toilet water saver according to claim 8, wherein the flushing valve assembly further comprises an elongated overflow tube adjacent said valve body.
 11. The toilet water saver according to claim 8, wherein said valve body further comprises a branch pipe extending orthogonal to and to the right of said elongated pipe adjacent the lower end, said second flapper valve being disposed on the branch pipe.
 12. The toilet water saver according to claim 8, wherein said flush valve assembly further comprises a first valve seat disposed at the upper end of said elongated pipe and a second valve seat disposed in said branch pipe, said first and second flapper valves being seated in the first and second valve seats, respectively, when in a closed position, the first and second valve seats being formed at an acute angle relative to horizontal in order to promoted fluid flow when flushing said tank.
 13. The toilet water saver according to claim 8, wherein said first volume comprises less than about one-third of the entire volume of water defined by the predetermined water level.
 14. The toilet water saver according to claim 8, wherein said second volume comprises substantially the entire volume of water defined by the predetermined water level. 